Your Smile Makes You Beautiful
by Tania Helene
Summary: Katara obviously sees something he doesn't... Zutara ONESHOT! Short one...


**Hey everybody! I'm not dead I swear! After I watched the new episode of Avatar my muse came back from vacation, and it wanted me to write a Zutara oneshot…! I wanted this to be sweet, but a bit deep at the same time and please review to tell me what you think. **

**This was finished very quickly but I really felt inspired!!!**

**BUT PLEASE ENJOY FIRST;)**

**(PS: Flames are used to make my popcorn!) **

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"I thought you were evil, you know. Once…" Zuko said and looked down at his hands. He sat cross-legged on the ground while the fire in front of him was eating the wood hungrily. Everyone was asleep except from him and the water bending girl. Katara…

"Evil? How could I be the evil one? You were the one who tried to kidnap Aang, wanted the Fire Nation to rule the world, and kept letting people down!" He didn't look up. She had hit a weak spot but he had expected every single word.

"I know. But at that time, I thought I was the one who was the good guy. I wanted to capture the Avatar so I could restore my honour. Return to what I called my home. I wanted the Fire Nation, _my home_, to win the war because I had been told that _we _were the good ones. That we wanted to give wisdom and balance to the world. I see now, that that wasn't the truth, and I really can't blame anyone for still not trusting me. Especially you. I've made a lot of bad choices." He still didn't meet her bright, blue eyes. He didn't want to see her reaction, but her voice told him all he wanted to know.

"You've had a pretty rough childhood, huh?" He snorted. Yeah… rough…

"You hurt me bad that time. Back in Ba Sing Se... I really thought you had changed." Zuko sighed and looked up at the sky. The stars shone brightly and the moon… It was beautiful as always. Reminded him of something, or… some_one_.

"I thought so too…" They were quiet for a while. It wasn't the kind of silence that got thicker and thicker as the minutes went by, but the kind that felt safe and comfortable. You didn't have to break it. But perhaps she didn't think the same…

"You got that scar from your father, right?" She asked and he finally met her gaze. He felt like a cage bird in those eyes. He couldn't escape. He nodded at last.

But where had she…?

She must have read his thought because she shrugged and said, "Your uncle told me." Zuko nodded in understanding as he looked at the elder, sleeping man on the other side of the fire. Iroh had been there for him, always. Even when Zuko had acted like a complete idiot, Iroh had supported him and helped him at every given chance. Iroh had been more than an uncle to him. He had been the father he never had had.

He placed his hand on his scar and let his fingers feel the burned skin.

"I would like to know what would had happened if I had healed it that night. Then maybe things hadn't turned out the way they did." Katara said and he knew she looked at him. Starred. But she sat on his right side and didn't have the view to study his scar.

"Can I… take a look at it? For a minute…? Perhaps…?" She suddenly asked and Zuko was taken back a bit. Take a look at it? Well, he wasn't used to people asking him about permission to stare anyway.

He nodded again and turned his whole face to her. She let her fingers trace it down until they reached his chin.

"It must have been awful…" She whispered, mostly to herself it seemed but he answered anyway, "It was." Her blue eyes found his golden ones. He never got tired of looking at her. Her smooth, dark skin. Her deep, blue eyes. And her smile… He would have sworn that she had the most beautiful smile in the world.

His fantasy came true as she smiled and his stomach had at least a thousand butterflies in it. What was happening to him? Why couldn't he control himself whenever she was near?

"You know, some women find scars pretty attractive," she told him and he raised his single eyebrow.

"Do you find it attractive?" He then asked. She blushed and looked away for a moment as she answered, "Well… maybe a little bit." He smirked. Who would have thought that Katara, Sokka's innocent sister, would think that kind of thoughts?

Zuko gazed at her and she turned to him. During the past few weeks he had felt something between them. But it was probably only him who thought so…

"You're probably the only woman who thinks that,"

"How can you be sure of that?"

He looked down at his hands. He didn't want to look at her right now. He knew that if he did, he would never be able to break away again.

"Let's just say I'm not the most popular guy among girls. When they see me they probably think of something like, 'what you see is what you get.' And this," he pointed at his scar, "is not a side of me people want to see."

There was silence for a minute. Katara gazed at his eyes and back to his scar.

"And you're sure that it has nothing to do with your crappy attitude?" Zuko snorted for the third time that night. Perhaps… it _was_ a possibility.

"Look, Zuko, Iroh has told me many things. Things about you. Things that you probably don't want any of us to know, but we do know anyway. He told me that there was a girl in Ba Sing Se that must have thought the exactly opposite of what you just said. She asked you out, right?" Zuko felt the warm spread to his cheeks as he had a flashback.

Jin… _I wonder what she's doing now, _he thought. He put his fingers to his lips and remembered… his first kiss.

"See, it's not all people who see that side of you. They see the one you want them to see."

Zuko wasn't completely convinced.

"Perhaps, but… you don't know what you're talking about. You don't know what it's like," Katara's eyes widened. And her voice let out a small piece of anger. "Excuse me?"

Maybe that had come out a little too harsh…

"Look, Katara, you don't know what it's like because you have nothing to be ashamed of. You look," he swallowed and looked up, "beautiful." Both of them blushed and couldn't meet each others gazes. His hand found his left cheek again.

"I've always felt kind of… ugly. Both inside and outside. Now that I have found my true destiny, the inside is healing. It's going to be okay, but… the outside will always remain the same. This scar," he looked at her and her eyes showed him an emotion he couldn't quiet recognize, "reminds me of that every day."

Katara kept starring. He would have given his left arm to know what she was thinking. Then, suddenly, her hand was placed on his. On his cheek. His heart skipped a beat and he felt the heat spread to his cheeks again. However, even if a lightning was going to hit them every second now, he wouldn't remove her hand. It felt so… caring, soft, loving.

Loving…? Dear God, who was he kidding?

"I knew you were complicated," she began, "but I swear that I never would have thought that a guy could feel all that. Especially you." He closed his eyes and sighed as she caressed his cheek. Then, without a single warning, she kissed his scar. And a moment after he felt her gentle lips against his, and he returned with everything he had.

When they broke apart golden eyes met blue ones.

"You really know just how to make me feel bad for you, don't you?" He chuckled, "Well, I try my best." She then kissed him again. It felt nice but… he wanted to ask her something. He broke away and captured her eyes in a firm gaze.

"So, Katara, is this just something to make me feel better, or…" He was cut off by a yawn and he quickly turned his attention to the sleeping Sokka, who had just turned his back to them in his sleeping bag. He had totally forgotten that they weren't alone.

A hand made his face look in another direction. Katara looked at him and with a serious but low tone, she said, "Perhaps that is the case, Zuko. Perhaps I'm only doing this because I wanted to make you feel better. Perhaps I feel so sorry for you, that I want to give in to you right at this moment." Zuko felt a sweat drop roll down his forehead. W-what was she…?

"No, Zuko… It's not only the looks, the gazes we have. The way our hands touch accidentally when we reach for the same piece of wood for the fire. God dammit, it's not even because I want to go against Sokka's wishes." Zuko was a bit surprised of her last comment but it was no surprise that Sokka was constantly on guard when Zuko was in their company.

"Zuko," his attention was pulled back in a matter of seconds, "I kissed you because I… I wanted to. I kissed you because my feelings told me so. I… I like you. You're really not as bad as I first thought you were. As _you _thought you were." She looked away a little embarrassed it seemed but she couldn't take those words back.

"Thank you," he whispered and she giggled.

"You don't have to thank me,"

"But I want to,"

"Why are you…?"

"I have no idea. I simply wanted to," he smiled and held her hands in his.

"Your hands are cold," she ignored his comment but gently squeezed his own.

"You should smile more often," he simply looked at her, "it makes your face much brighter. It makes you look," she didn't even hesitate, "beautiful." She leaned in and kissed him for the third time that night.

_Katara, _he thought, _I promise that I will make you feel beautiful every, single day from the rest of my life…_


End file.
